AbstractsMedical & Health Science

Background: The Swedish populations is aging, and with age the risk of physical frailty and having depressive symptoms increases and can have a negative impact on the person. With aging the physical ability changes because of the natural process and also because of other factors for example diseases. Purpose: To examine if there was an association between physical frailty and depressive symptoms among people 60 years and older. Method: The study is a quantitative cross-sectional study, based on data taken from the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Blekinge (SNAC-B). The processing of the material was done in two parts, a descriptive part and an analyzing part to identify the prevalence and examine relationships. Results: According to the definition of physical frailty and depressive symptoms in this study, there was an association between them two. There was statistic association between women with physical frailty and depressive symptoms but there was none between men with physical frailty and depressive symptoms. The persons having finished primary school had more physical frailty and more depressive symptoms then the ones that finished secondary school. Conclusions: The study showed an association between physical frailty and depressive symptoms for older adults. The most vulnerable were more likely to be woman and have less education. To be able to support the older adults it is essential for the nurse to have more knowledge about physical frailty and depressive symptoms to support the patient in their care.